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Portugal
Portugal Portugal (i/ˈpɔrtʃʉɡəlˌ -tjʉ-/; Portuguese: puɾtuˈɣaɫ), officially the Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: República Portuguesa), is a country in southwest Europe. It is located on the Iberian Peninsula, and it is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, being bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east. Aside from continental Portugal, the Portuguese Republic holds sovereignty over the Atlantic archipelagos of Azores and Madeira, which are autonomous regions of Portugal. The country is named after its second largest city, Porto, whose name derives from a combination of Latin "Portus", and the Celtic place-name Cale. 89 The land within the borders of the current Portuguese Republic has been continually fought over and settled since prehistoric times. The Celts and the Romans were followed by the Visigothic and the Suebi Germanic peoples, who were themselves later invaded by the Moors. These Muslim people were eventually expelled during the Christian Reconquista of the peninsula. By 1139, Portugal established itself as a kingdom independent from León.10 In the 15th and 16th centuries, as the result of pioneering the Age of Discovery, Portugal expanded western influence and established the first global empire,111213 becoming one of the world's major economic, political and military powers. The Portuguese Empire was the longest-lived of the modern European colonial empires, spanning almost 600 years, from the capture of Ceuta in 1415 to the handover of Macau to the People's Republic of China in 1999 (de facto) or the granting of sovereignty to East Timor in 2002 (de jure) after occupation by Indonesia since 1975. The empire spread throughout a vast number of territories that are now part of 53 different sovereign states, leaving a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe with a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today (making it the sixth most spoken first language) and a number of Portuguese-based creoles. Portugal's international status began to decline from the 19th century, setting in with the Independence of Brazil, in 1822. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, itself being superseded by the "Estado Novo" right-wing authoritarian regime. Democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to Angola, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, East Timor, Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau. Portugal maintains a unitary semi-presidential republic form of government14151617 and a developed country with an advanced economy, high living standards181920 and high-quality infrastructures, ranking 2nd in the quality of the road network21 and 11th overall,22 according to the Global Competitiveness Report. It is one of the world's most globalized, peaceful and responsive nations.2324 It is a member of the United Nations, European Union, Eurozone, OECD, NATO, WTO, OSCE, Schengen Area, Council of Europe, Organization of Ibero-American States, Community of Portuguese Language Countries and numerous other international institutions. Portugal was among the first countries to abolish capital punishment, in 1867. On 31 May 2010, Portugal became the sixth country in Europe and the eighth country in the world to legally recognize same-sex marriage on the national level.25 Portugal also received international attention for being the first country in the world to fully decriminalize the usage of all drugs in 2001.26 All sources from Wikipedia Category:Nations in Europe Category:Nations Category:Real Nations Category:Present Day Category:Part of the EU Category:Nations in America Category:Nations in North America Category:Nations in Africa Category:Past Empires Category:Modern Nations Category:Present day Category:Modern Countries Category:Countries Category:Countries in Africa Category:NATO Category:Countries in North America Category:Countries in Europe Category:Countries in America